 1890 - 1987 (97 years)
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| Name |
Helen Noram |
| Birth |
7 Jun 1890 |
Coal City, Grundy Co, Illinois, USA  |
| Gender |
Female |
| Death |
14 Nov 1987 |
Rockford, Winnebago Co, Illinois, USA |
| Burial |
18 Nov 1987 |
Arlington Cemetery, Rockford, Winnebago Co, Illinois, USA |
| Person ID |
I77968 |
Cecilie Family |
| Last Modified |
4 Mar 2009 |
| Father |
Ola Hadlesen, Norem, b. 18 Sep 1847, Norheim G d. 15 Mar 1896, Morris, Grundy Co, Illinois, USA (Age 48 years) |
| Mother |
Guro Nilsdatter, Tesdal, b. 31 Mar 1846, Tesdal G d. 21 Feb 1933, Saratoga, Grundy Co, Illinois, USA (Age 86 years) |
| Marriage |
30 Oct 1874 |
Grindheim Kirke, Etne, Hordaland, Norway [1] |
| Family ID |
F35265 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Family |
|
| Marriage |
22 Dec 1910 |
Saratoga, Grundy Co, Illinois, USA [1] |
| Family ID |
F35264 |
Group Sheet | Family Chart |
| Last Modified |
4 Mar 2009 |
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| Event Map |
|
 | Birth - 7 Jun 1890 - Coal City, Grundy Co, Illinois, USA |
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 | Marriage - 22 Dec 1910 - Saratoga, Grundy Co, Illinois, USA |
|
 | Death - 14 Nov 1987 - Rockford, Winnebago Co, Illinois, USA |
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 | Burial - 18 Nov 1987 - Arlington Cemetery, Rockford, Winnebago Co, Illinois, USA |
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| Notes |
- Helen Noram was born on a farm in Saratoga Township, Grundy County,
Illinois about nine years after her parents emigrated from Etne,
Norway. The family also lived near Coal City, Illinois for a time,
but moved back to Saratoga Township at the urging of Helen's uncle,
Ole Nelson. This move had tragic consequences when Helen's father was
shot and killed (some say murdered) by his niece's husband (a deputy
sheriff) during a land dispute. Helen was five years old at the time.
She grew up on this farm, as her uncle was forced to allow his sister,
now a widow, to live on the farm until her death (she died in 1933).
Helen appeared to have enjoyed literature as a young girl. She
acquired two books in 1904, "A Christmas Carol" and "The Courtship of
Miles Standish" and kept them for 83 years. They were found among her
few personal possessions at the time of her death. Helen married Otto
Hagen on December 22, 1910 at the home of her mother, the Reverend
Aarrestad officiating. The attendants were her brother and sister,
Ole and Annie Noram, and the bridegroom's brother and sister, Edward
and Gertie Hagen. A dinner was served following the wedding and
according to the newspaper account, "a happy time passed during the
afternoon." Helen and Otto, along with their daughter, Gurine (Jean)
moved to Minnesota in 1916. Unfortunately, Otto became seriously ill
about Christmas of that year and they had to move back to Morris where
he was cared for by his mother. Six weeks before Otto's death in
1917, their son, Otto Clarence Hagen Jr, was born in the house where
they had been married. Helen eventually was persuaded by her mother to
remarry, primarily on economic grounds. Her second husband, Thorvald
Olson, was a widower with two daughters. Together they had three sons.
The family lived for a while in Minnesota, but eventually moved back
to Illinois. Helen worked in a canning factory after they quit
farming and was able to pay off a mortgage on a large lot with two
houses in Cherry Valley, Illinois. The larger of the two houses is
where she spent most of the rest of her life and is the house her
grandchildren remember visiting often. Thorvald died in 1956 (?).
Helen and her youngest son, Kenneth, continued to live in Cherry
Valley. Kenneth was often away traveling and Helen lived alone,
except when she had her bachelor brothers, Ole and Sivert living with
her. Helen died at the grand old age of 97 on November 14, 1987.
Funeral services were held at Our Savior's Lutheran Church in
Rockford, Illinois on November 18, 1987 and she was buried later that
same day at Arlington Cemetery in Rockford. Helen Noram was a spunky
lady who had her share of life's tragedies. Her father was killed when
she was five years old, and her first husband, whom she dearly loved,
died at the young age of 30, just after the birth of their son. She
raised a large family on rented farms during the Depression years and
continued working after her second husband quit farming so that they
could keep up the payments on their property. I think it could be
said that she deserved better out of life, but she was an inspiration
to all those around her. In her later years, she did get to travel
and even managed a trip to British Honduras. She was quite agile for
her age, even into her 80's and was in relatively good health until
about two years before she died. She spent much of her final years
living with her eldest daughter, Jean Frye, and her youngest son,
Kenneth Olson. When she could no longer be cared for in the home, she
was moved to a nursing home where she eventually died after a long
illness.
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